Charlie Horloge doesn't see his father very often, but when
he's around, his dad makes him read history books and tells
him to guard his possessions if he's in a strange place.
Now he's fifteen Charlie wants to know more, and why the
teachers always have trouble remembering him. Then the
police come calling, and his dad vanishes. Later, spotting
one of the strange policemen again, Charlie follows the man
by jumping into a hole in the ground. He appears in an old-
style city, where his smartphone turns into a notebook, and
is promptly pickpocketed by a young girl. As if that wasn't
enough, Ben Franklin is a journeyman printer nearby.
In UNTIMED, Charlie is told 'Boys are from the future,
girls are from the past' by another time traveller.
Clockwork agents from the future - like that policeman -
are out to kill them. London, the grimy stinking city with
foul water and fouler poor, could easily kill Charlie too.
And a girl his own age is a teen mother, with a
sharp 'Where were you last year?' when he makes a comment.
If he can only go downtime - past - how can he get home?
And how soon can he start? Will that change time?
I found the concept was a cross between The Time
Traveller's Wife and Jumper - Griffin's Story but as
both are for older readers, the tale may be new to young
adults. I enjoyed reading about London when Fleet Street
was a ditch and Oliver Twist could have been a real
person, filching purses and sipping gin. The dirt is
overwhelming so this tale is not for the squeamish, though
instructional, and there is plenty of action. Other
locations follow and nowhere seems very safe for very long.
Andy Gavin has put together a gripping tale of time travel,
but scenes of teen sex, violence, drunkenness and death
merit a parental advisory, given that young people like
reading about slightly older age groups. At the same time
the protagonist keeps insisting that life is different in
his present, doesn't enjoy the drinking or violence and
warns against drugs. The tale also gets more complex with
history changing and back and forth jumps, so concentration
is required. The prospect of the leaders of the American
Revolution being hanged for rebellion makes this a
controversial read but if you enjoy a good argument read
UNTIMED and see how it might have occurred.
Charlie's the kind of boy that no one notices. Hell, his own
mother can't remember his name. So when a mysterious
clockwork man tries to kill him in modern day Philadelphia,
and they tumble through a hole into 1725 London, Charlie
realizes even the laws of time don't take him seriously.
Still, this isn't all bad. Who needs school when you can
learn about history first hand, like from Ben Franklin
himself. And there's this girl... Yvaine... another time
traveler. All good. Except for the rules: boys only travel
into the past and girls only into the future. And the
baggage: Yvaine's got a baby boy and more than her share of
ex-boyfriends. Still, even if they screw up history -- like
accidentally let the founding father be killed -- they can
just time travel and fix it, right? But the future they
return to is nothing like Charlie remembers. To set things
right, he and his scrappy new girlfriend will have to race
across the centuries, battling murderous machines from the
future, jealous lovers, reluctant parents, and time itself.
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